Blood
Blood is a specialized bodily fluid that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Vampires, Originals, and hybrids need to drink blood to survive. If a vampire cannot feed on blood for an extended period of time, they will weaken to the point of desiccation. Also, blood provides their supernatural abilities, such as enhanced strength, speed, agility, senses, healing, and mind control. Most vampires drink human blood, but there are some that choose to exclusively drink animal blood, such as Stefan Salvatore, or vampire blood, such as Mikael. However, animal blood does not provide the same level of nourishment to vampires as human blood does, which is why most vampires won't even consider it unless they have no other option. Types of Blood Human Blood Feeding on human blood completes the final phase in transitioning into becoming a vampire. If an individual chooses not to feed, and resists human blood, the transition will not be complete and the individual will die, again. (Like Bill Forbes did in Bringing Out The Dead). However, the urge for human blood is a crucial aspect of life as a vampire-- the bloodlust and hunger becomes as constant as breathing, and every individual must learn to adjust to the lifestyle in order to avoid exposure. When a vampire experiences moments of hunger, bloodlust, or other heightened emotions, their vampirism becomes evident in facial changes; their eyes redden, the veins around their eyes darken and protrude, and their fangs become exposed. The majority of vampires drink human blood. Some choose to acquire blood donation bags from blood banks to satisfy their blood needs, but others either feed off on willing or compelled individuals, or simply feed and kill their prey. Animal blood does not provide the same level of nourishment to vampires as human blood does. Human blood makes a vampire considerably stronger than those who drink animal blood, keeping their strength and abilities at their peak. When Stefan and Damon returned to Mystic Falls, Damon easily bested his younger brother in a fight because he drank human blood, while Stefan stuck to a strictly animal-only diet. It's shown that witch blood seems to have the same effect on vampires as human blood. It is shown that in witch blood can be used to complete a transition into a vampire as a substitute for normal human blood. Damon_vampiric_form.jpg|The effect smelling human blood has on a vampire. Kellyblood.jpg|Kelly Donovan's forehead bleeding. Mattblood.jpg|Matt's face bleeding after his fight with . MrTannerDead.png|Mr. Tanner, who had recently died from a vampire bite. Bloodfrindge.jpg|Stefan's supply of frozen blood in the fridge Elena vampire face.png|Elena Gilbert shortly after drinking blood for the first time. Animal Blood Some vampires (such as Stefan Salvatore) choose to feed on animal blood rather than human blood. Animal blood does not provide the same level of nourishment to vampires as human blood does and vampires that drink animal blood have decreased strength, decreases speed, decreased healing abilities and a lower tolerance to pain. Since it is stated that to complete a transition into a vampire, one must drink human blood, then presumably, animal blood will not suffice when a human is in transition to a vampire. Vampire Blood Vampire blood is necessary in the process of turning a human into a vampire. The human must have vampire blood in their system at the time of their death in order to begin the transition. Vampire blood also has strong regenerative properties, and when ingested by a human it will heal them of almost any wounds within seconds. It was also revealed in Grayson Gilbert's medical journal that he used vampire blood to cure Megan of a heart condition when she was a child, during his tenure in the Augustine Society . However, vampire blood cannot turn a human into a vampire if the human is already dead when it is ingested. Vampires typically bleed less in comparison to humans, due to their durability and healing abilities. A vampire will bleed similarly to a human when injured, but it requires much more force to damage them with conventional weapons unless they're wooden or contain vervain. If they are not attacked in those means, their wounds will heal almost immediately. Vampires can also feed off of the blood of other vampires, as demonstrated by Mikael. While werewolves don't require vampire blood to survive, it's confirmed that werewolves transformed under the full moon do/can/will eat vampires, as they have evolved to hunt vampires as their main prey. According to Damon and Stefan, the sharing of blood between vampires is an intimate and personal experience. In She's Come Undone, Caroline injected her mother, Liz, with her vampire blood via a syringe, because Liz was unconscious and unable to drink the blood. Caroline's father, Bill, was healed with vampire blood in the same method by Dr. Meredith Fell in The Ties That Bind. It has also been revealed that if a vampire is starved of blood and then exclusively fed vampire blood, it increases their strength dramatically, as seen with the newborn Jesse, who was able to overpower Damon, a 170 year old vampire. This could also explain Mikael's extreme strength, due to the fact that Mikael is the only known vampire to voluntarily subsist on solely vampire blood over the centuries. AnnaGivesBlood.jpg|Anna, a vampire, giving Jeremy some of her blood. StefanHand.jpg|Stefan's hand is cut when and get into a fight. Werewolf Blood In Plan B, it is confirmed that vampires can drink werewolf blood in the same manner that they drink human blood. Before werewolves trigger their curse, they are essentially human, for all intents and purposes, and will bleed just as a human does. Triggered werewolves are known to be more durable and have greater healing abilities than humans, but less so than vampires. Doppelgänger Blood Human doppelgänger blood was needed in the sacrifice ritual to break the Hybrid Curse that was placed on Klaus. Human doppelgänger blood is also a necessary component for Klaus, the Original hybrid, to turn werewolves into hybrids. Instead of feeding on regular human blood after awaking during transition, hybrids instead must feed on the human doppelgänger blood. Klaus used Elena's blood in order to sire his hybrids, including Tyler Lockwood, under the impression that she was the only human doppelgänger in existence. However, after Elena turned into a vampire, her blood could no longer help him sire hybrids. The blood of a doppelgänger is also a powerful source of magic for witches to use in spells, and has been used on many different occasions in order to do spells. The Travelers also discovered that the blood of the last two remaining doppelgängers from each bloodline (Stefan from Silas' bloodline, and Elena from Amara's bloodline) can be mixed together to be used to reverse a witch's magic. The Travelers intend on using their mixed blood to undo the curse put on their people by the witches, which will slowly undo every spell created by a witch's magic, including the werewolf curse, the spell that created the Originals (as well as the vampires descended from them), and the daylight rings that protect them. Examples of Doppelgänger Blood Used for Magical Purposes *Tatia's blood was also used in the adapted version of the Immortality Spell, which was used on the Mikaelson family (Mikael, Elijah, Finn, Klaus, Kol, and Rebekah) in order to create the Original vampires. *Tatia's doppelgänger blood was used to create the Hybrid Curse, which was put on Klaus to keep his werewolf side from manifesting. Elena's blood was used to break this curse over 1,000 years later, as she is a descendant of Tatia as well as a human doppelgänger. *Elena's blood was also used later by Esther, who used her blood in a spell which linked all of her children together. Her plan was to cast a spell to make Finn human again, which would make the rest of the siblings human again as well. Then, she planned to kill Finn, which would result in the deaths of all of her children. This plan ultimately failed, because her connection to her source of magic was severed by Abby Bennett Wilson's death. *When her first plan failed, Esther used Elena's blood again to turn Alaric Saltzman into an Enhanced Original vampire. *Qetsiyah used the blood of three doppelgängers (Elena, Katherine, and Amara) to make Bonnie the Anchor to the Other Side. *Markos mixed the blood of the final two doppelgängers (Stefan and Elena) to do an experiment, by turning Sloan into a vampire. Then, he had her drink the mixed doppelgänger blood, which cured her vampirism. Unfortunately for her, the blood wasn't a cure for vampirism, it just removes the vampire spell, which was created by witch (spirit) magic. As a result, Sloan was returned to her previous state before becoming a vampire, which was being dead. Before becoming a vampire, Sloan died by having her throat slit by Markos. After the vampire magic was removed, her throat slit open again, and she returned to being dead. *As a result of Markos' experiment on Sloan, the Travelers learned that the curse that was placed on them could be lifted using the mixed blood of the last remaining doppelgangers. 1424418_676553712377725_866187545_n.jpg|Qetsiyah used the blood of the doppelgängers to make Bonnie the Anchor to the Other Side Katerina's Blood After Katherine was force-fed the cure by Elena, she became human again. However, the cure remained in her blood. Silas, who desperately wanted to cure himself of immortality so he could kill himself and reunite with his true love, Amara, in the afterlife, fed on Katherine's blood to the point where she almost died, which cured him of his immortality. Silas' Blood Once Silas drained Katherine of nearly all of her blood, he was cured of his immortality. As a result of ingesting the cure, Silas' blood now became the cure, as well. When Silas realized that Amara was still alive, after she has spent a millenia desiccated and hidden as the anchor to the Other Side, he admitted to her that he had taken the cure to die and be with her. After centuries of torment from feeling every dead supernatural's death, Amara desperately stabbed Silas in the neck with a piece of glass so she could feed on him and cure herself of her own immortality. Klaus' Blood Klaus is the only being in the world whose blood can cure vampire of the lethal effects of a werewolf bite. After a bitten vampire ingests Klaus' blood, he or she is immediately healed of the bite wound, "as though it never happened," in Klaus' words. Additionally, Klaus is the only vampire on earth whose blood can turn a werewolf into a hybrid, assuming that he has doppelgänger blood, or the blood of his daughter, in order to complete the transition. vlcsnap-2014-06-25-04h12m01s26.png S4ep13-16.png Qetsiyah's Blood Qetsiyah's blood is a powerful ingredient in magical spells, due to her immense magical power when she was alive. Bonnie used Silas' headstone, which contained a large amount of Qetsiyah's calcified blood, in order to channel the power of Qetsiyah's blood to lower the veil to the Other Side. Using Qetsiyah's blood, Bonnie was saved from having to wait until the full moon to do the spell. Qetsiyah's blood, in addition to the power from the Expression Triangle, was more than enough power to successfully complete this powerful spell. QTombstone.jpg Hope Mikaelson's Blood Hope's blood can be used to turn werewolves into hybrids, it is also required to finish the transition. It can be presumed that her blood can also cure a werewolf/hybrid bite. In addition to these qualities, Hope's blood can also act as a potent binding agent and can be used to break complex spells cast by other witches, as a result of her witch heritage. Klaus baby blood.jpg|Klaus' baby's blood siring Dwayne Klaus baby blood02.png|Klaus's baby's blood breaking Tunde's spell Characters who used their blood to cure people *Klaus **Elena **Damon **Caroline **Katerina **Stefan **Diego **Marcel **Elijah **Various other people *Stefan **Elena **Meredith **Bonnie **April **Various other people *Elena **Jeremy (her paternal cousin/adoptive brother) **April **Liv Parker *Damon **Elena **Vicki **Caroline **Jeremy **Various other people *Rebekah **April *Caroline **April **Matt **Elizabeth (her mother) **Jesse **Various other people Category:Vampires Category:Humans Category:Animals Category:Other Category:Original Vampires Category:Werewolves Category:Witches